How to Tell An Awesome Bedtime Story

In addition to reading to kids, telling stories is an important part of how kids learn everything from reading skills to cultural values. The stories we tell reflect the things we want kids to absorb and reflect as they grow up.

Then why can it feel so hard to tell a good one?

Story crafting is a skill. Everyone learns it in some form, whether it's how to set up and land a punchline, telling stories that highlight your accomplishments (great for job interviews) or writing your own fiction. The success of a bedtime story, however, really depends on your audience.

Ages 0-2

In the earliest years, a good bedtime story won't necessarily have a plot. What it will have is ritual, repetition, and opportunity for some kind of engagement. In the absence of illustrations and the act of page-turning, use movement to draw your child in. Hold a young baby and rock as you talk. Hold a toddler on your lap and bounce them through the story of a horseback ride ride, speeding up, slowing down, or leaning as necessary:

Here we go on a horsey ride!

starting with a walk;

nice and slow, an easy stride

up and down the block.

Here we go on a horsey ride!

now it's time to trot;

hold on tight, and don't you slide -

slip and and fall, you cannot!

Here we go on a horsey ride!

At a canter now!

Smooth and easy as you glide -

watch out for that cow!

If you tell it enough times, you'll get your toddler saying the lines with you, and really, that's an enviable level of bedtime cooperation. If you want a more soothing bedtime experience, use the same principles with a less active movement. Kids this age thrive on repetition (how many times have YOU heard Baby Shark?) and that goes triple for daily routines.

Ages 3-6

This is typically the phase in which kids start being able to follow a plot and a story. In addition to reading more complex books aloud, this age is perfect for one of my favorite bedtime traditions: the Story of the Day.

Story of the Day is really an exhausted parent's hack, a shortcut that happens to also be a brilliant way to demonstrate the power of storytelling. The Story of the Day is simply your child's day, as told by you, an omniscient storyteller. You don't have to make anything up, and you don't have to make it super exciting - the fact that it's about THEM and something that really happened to THEM is exciting enough.

"This is the story of the day: this morning, we all woke up in our beds - well, except for Jason, who woke up in Mommy's bed because he had a scary dream - and then Mommy came in to wake up Tiana, who was VERY sleepy and didn't want to wake up, but Mommy said she could have orange juice with breakfast if she hurried up, so she JUMPED out of bed..."

The story of the day can be long and super detailed, or it can be really short. It doesn't matter. What helps is that every day has a kind of natural story arc to it - and you can always end it with, "And then they got into their beds and fell asleep as soon as the lights were out." Because, hey. If that's what it says in the story, then it must be true, right?

Ages 7-10

In this age range, if your kids still want you to tell them stories - AWESOME! This is where they can start handling more complex characters and narratives. It can feel a little daunting, but they don't expect you to be the next Tolkein! Here are a few story basics that can help you get started:

- A good character has something they want, and something they need. Having those two things be in conflict, or at least different from each other, can drive a story along. (What she WANTS is treasure; what she NEEDS is friendship. Etc.)

- Use a MacGuffin. A MacGuffin is something that drives the plot of the story without being inherently important. (WHY does everyone want the magical sword? Who cares? They're going to fight over it, and the battle the cool part!)

- Base characters off people you know. Use your family structure! Make your hero based on the family dog, make your kids the friends the hero meets along the way, base the villain on yourself...use pre-built characters wherever you can find them. You can even (gasp!) steal from books and stories you already know. No one will ever find out.

From the bare beginner to the story-savvy, anyone can craft a good bedtime saga. Sweet dreams!